1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector to be attached to or removed from other connector mounted on a circuit board (hereinafter referred to as a board-mounted connector). Such an electrical connector may be used as an adapter for the board-mounted connector.
For example, when a circuit board incorporated in a game cassette is directly inserted in or removed from a board-mounted connector mounted on a circuit board of a machine, such insertion and removal are highly frequently made. This leads to a premature expiration of the lifetime of the board-mounted connector. To overcome such a problem, an electrical connector may be mounted, as an adapter, on a board-mounted connector and the circuit board of a game cassette may be inserted into or removed from this electrical connector. When it is found impossible to further use the electrical connector, this electrical connector may be replaced. Thus, the frequency in insertion in and removal from the board-mounted connector is considerably reduced, enabling the board-mounted connector to be protected.
2. Description of the Invention
As the electrical connector to be used in the manner above-mentioned, there is known an electrical connector C' shown in FIG. 10'.
The electrical connector C' has a housing 200 made of an insulating material. The housing 200 includes, at one end thereof, a board connection space S1' into or from which a circuit board P1 of, for example, a game cassette is inserted or removed, and, at the other end thereof, a connector connection space S2' into or from which a board-mounted connector C1' is inserted or removed. The housing 200 incorporates thin plate-like contact members 300 extending over the board connection space S1' and the connector connection space S2.
As shown in FIG. 11, each of the contact members 300 has a wide flat plate-like intermediate portion 310, and narrow resilient contact portions 320, 330 respectively formed at both ends of the intermediate portion 310. The contact portion 320 extends toward the board connection space S1', while the contact portion 330 extends toward the connector connection space S2'. The contact portions 320, 330 have contacts 321, 331, respectively. The contact portion 320 is provided at the tip thereof with a wide engagement portion 322. The intermediate portion 310 has a cut-raised engagement pawl 340. This engagement pawl 340 is engaged with a stand-like engagement portion 210 projectingly formed on the inner peripheral wall of the housing 200.
As shown in FIG. 10, when the board-mounted connector C1' is inserted into the connector connection space S2' of the electrical connector C' having the arrangement above-mentioned, the contact portions 330 are pushed and resiliently deformed by contact pieces 400 formed on the surface of the board-mounted connector C1'. That is, the contacts 331 of the contact portions 330 are pressingly contacted with terminal portions 410 of the contact pieces 400, causing the contact members 300 to be electrically conencted to the contact pieces 400.
When the circuit board P1 of, for example, a game cassette is inserted into the board connection space S1' of the electrical connector C', the contact portions 320 are pushed and resiliently deformed by external terminals (not shown) disposed on the surface of the circuit board P1. The contacts 321 of the contact portions 320 resiliently come in contact with the external terminals of the circuit board P1, causing the contact members 300 to be electrically connected to the circuit board P1.
In the electrical connector C' in FIG. 10 having the arrangement above-mentioned, the contact members 300 are inserted from the connector connection space S2' into the housing 200, and then assembled therein.
However, the contact members 300 are provided at both ends of the intermediate portions 310 with the narrow contact portions 320, 330. Accordingly, the contact portions 320, 330 are apt to be readily deformed when the contact members 300 are inserted into the housing 200.
To minimize such deformation, the contact members 300 may be assembled, for example, in the following manner.
Stepped shoulder portions 350 are formed at the boundary portions of the wide intermediate portions 310 with the narrow contact portions 330, according to the difference in width of the intermediate portions 310 and the contact portions 330. Accordingly, a thin punch may be first applied to the shoulder portions 350. Then, the contact members 300 are pushed from the side of the connector connection space S2' into the housing 200 by the punch. At this time, the contact members 300 are pushed while both lateral edges of the wide engagement portion 322 at the tips of the contact portions 320 slidingly come in contact with shoulder portions 260 formed in the housing 200. When the engagement pawls 340 are engaged with the engagement portions 210, the assembling is complete.
With the assembling procedure above-mentioned, it may be possible to avoid the deformation of the contact portions 320, 330. However, such assembling requires the application of a slender punch to the shoulder portions 350 of which spaces are extremely limited. This involves the likelihood that the shoulder portions 350 and/or the punch are deformed, or that the punch is broken in the worst case.